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“Want to know a secret?” I whisper, ushering her to come closer.
“Sure?” She sounds uncertain in her answer.
“I was a nerd in high school, too. Trust me when I say, there’s nothing wrong with being dedicated to your schoolwork.” I pause, making sure I have her attention. “But… it’s also completely okay to allow yourself to have some fun now and then.“ I wish I had — instead, I spent my extra time tutoring the kids who had a little too much fun.
“I’d much rather spend my time in a fictional world than interact with the idiots in this one,” she mutters, and I can’t say I disagree with her. “I’ve got to get to my next class. Have a good weekend, Miss Andrews.”
“You too, Daisy.”
Fourth period is a free period for me. It’s usually when I get caught up on grading papers, lesson planning, and sifting through student questions left in the box I keep on my desk. I’ve noticed that if I ask the class aloud if there are any questions, hardly anyone will raise their hand. But they will occasionally find me during a free period or after school to ask a question in private. I don’t mind, of course — I understand the fear of looking “stupid” in front of the class. It prompted me to create a question box where students can ask questions anonymously, and I answer them the following class.
Over time, the questions in the box started branching out from the lessons I was teaching. Students were asking for help in other aspects of their lives, not just academics. Undoubtedly, there were always some questions that needed to be thrown away…
“Will you go to homecoming with me?” “Can I have your number?” “Do you have a boyfriend?”
I’m not going to say I’m a ten by any means, but if my students were looking for a “Hot Teacher Fantasy,” I’d say I was the best choice they had.
“Knock, knock.” Joey’s voice breaks me from my thoughts — he is now our school’s varsity football coach. He’s become a pretty good friend of mine over the years, but I’d be lying if I said that I grew out of the teenage crush I had on him eighteen years ago.
I spin my desk chair toward the doorway and flash him a smile. I swear to all things holy, this man was made in a factory somewhere. He’s about 5’10” — a few inches taller than me — and his body is rugged as fuck. It’s clear to anyone with eyes that he takes very good care of himself. His black hair is shaved on the sides and longer on top. Today, he has it slicked to the side instead of straight back like he usually does. I can’t decide which style I like better, because he looks drop dead gorgeous either way.
“Joey, what brings you to my neck of the school?”
“What, I can’t stop by and say hi to my old friend?” he smirks. That smile, along with his tan skin and big brown eyes do wicked things to my body.
I raise my eyebrows at him suspiciously. “I don’t know, can you?”
He grimaces before rushing out, “Mmm… you caught me. I need a favor.”
“Gee, what a shock,” I groan sarcastically. “What’s up?”
“One of my players is not doing so well in your class…” he starts.
“I swear to God, Joey, if you’re here to ask me to be lenient with my grading, you can forget it.” My voice is stern, but my insides feel like I’m on a roller coaster. “Besides, we’re not even a month into the school year, how is he already not doing well?”
“Kels, come on… give me a little more credit than that, please. You know I would never ask you to do that. What I wanted to know is if he could come in for a one-on-one tutoring session a few times a week so he can get a better grasp on the material. I told him how much you helped me when we were in high school.”
To say that Joey was a challenge to tutor back then is an understatement. I had to be a total bitch in order to get him to take his sessions seriously.
The first day I was supposed to tutor him, he strolled into the tutoring center about fifteen minutes late without a care in the world. He seemed to think he was going to breeze through this the way he did through everything else.
“You’re late,” I muttered without lifting my head from my book. If I didn’t look at him, then maybe he wouldn’t be able to hypnotize me with those chocolate brown puppy dog eyes.
“Yeah, sorry. I, uh —”
“I don’t want to hear it, Joey. If you’re not going to have respect for my time, then we should just part ways right now. I have far better things to do with my time.”
“Whoa, hey.” He placed his hand over mine, forcing me to look up at me from my textbook. “I really am sorry. I promise, I won’t be late anymore. Please, Kelsey, you’re my last hope of not getting suspended.”
One look. It only took one, single, solitary look into his eyes for me to be completely hooked — more than I already had been. It caused me to fight a war within myself. I knew that if I didn’t put my foot down on this first session, he was going to walk all over me.
“You’d better do everything I ask you to do. I have other students who actually take their tutoring seriously.”
He chuckled and shook his head at me. “Alright, I swear. I’ll be on my absolute best behavior and listen to every word you say.”
Joey snaps his fingers in front of my face. “Kels? You alright? You look like you went somewhere else for a minute.”
I shake my head, trying to compose myself. “Huh? Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Who’s the student?”
